Every Thursday morning we have a prayer gathering of Grace Church from 6:30am to 7:30am. Although it's an early hour, I've grown to really love these times together.
Something brand-new we just started this morning is to take the first Thursday morning of the month and dedicate the whole meeting to the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). In a sense, all prayer orbits around our call to "go and make disciples" but on these mornings we will try to discipline our praying for specific areas of gospel break-through.
After a brief meditation on Matt. 4:12-25, here are some things we prayed for this morning...
1. A local outreach to our city at Frisco Square. We are seeking to give away 6,000 glow-in-the-dark bracelets to children and demonstrate the love of Jesus this Saturday night.
2. Our Sunday gathering. We asked that God would empower the preached word to draw the listener to Himself and bring change through His grace.
3. Our ministry to Rambling Oaks. A retirement home we've partnered with through faithful men in our church. Every Sunday someone from our church is preaching there and leading worship. A friend named Shayne heads this up. We asked that God would stretch out his hand to heal many for His glory according to Acts 4:30.
4. Every Orphans Hope. We prayed for Gary Schneider and his ministry to orphans in Zambia that office at our church building.
5. Political and Social Tragedy and unrest in Mexico. Through our partnership with Sovereign Grace Ministries we prayed for a church to be strengthened with power and boldness in Juarez, and for the orphanage they support called Rancho 3m to be protected in these days.
6. Gospel for Asia. We have a few members of our church that serve at Gospel for Asia as self-supported missionaries in a full-time capacity to see churches planted among the unreached. We asked God would empower them and their efforts for his glory.
7. An evangelical Russian church that will begin meeting in our church this Sunday. We are seeking to be a part of a church ministering faithfully to Russians in the Dallas area.
8. Iraq. Through Operation World, we united with the global church in praying for the country listed for this day which happened to be Iraq. We prayed that God would reach the unreached Bedouin, Persians, and Gypsies.
